Improvement in book-stands



H. M. SWEENEY. Stationery.

No. 125,500, Patented Apri|9, 1872.

W J6. q womg s s s K s HUGH MARTIN SWEENEY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOOK-STANDS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 125,500, dated April 9, 1872.

have invented a new and useful Improvement on Music and Book Stands, of which the following is a specification.

Nature and Objects of my Invention. The nature of my invention relates to an improved music and book stand, so arranged that it can easily be folded together in a small compass for transportation, and can be used to equal advantage for holding sheet-music as well as for holding books of any desired thickness, as will now be fully shown and described.

()n the drawing, Figure l is a front view, the left-hand side of which represents the footboard c' k as being folded up close to the stand. The right-hand side of said figure shows the foot-board as placed in a position when ready for use. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section over the line A B taken on Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section over the line C D taken also on Fig. 1. Fig. at is an end'view ot' the stand when folded together, and Fig. 5 shows an enlarged view of the leafholder q t.

Similar letters refer tosimilar parts wherever they occur on the drawing.

a a. are two plates that join each other, and are connected together by means of the hinges c c, as shown. The object of said hinges is to be able to fold the two plates on on together in manner as shown in Fig. 4, when not required for use. An arm, at c, is attached to each of the plates (1. a, and forms a rest for the respective plates a a when used as a stand. The arms at d are provided in their upper ends with an eye, f, as shown, through which a screw or pinis inserted, and around which the arms at dare made to swing. The arms at d project into the forked rests c e, and are secured firmly thereto in any required position by means of the thumb-screws g g, as shown. From this it will be seen that the rests cl c may be shortened or lengthened, so as to obtain any desired inclination of the plates at a, simply by pushing the part at in or out of the forked arm 6 and holding them together by means of the thumb-screw g, as shown. A groove, h h, is made in each plate a a, for the purpose of concealing the rests cl 0 when the stand is not used. For this purpose unscrew the thumbscrews 9 g and push the rests c 0 over the 'arms d d up to the eyes f f, when the rests d 6 may easily be swung in the groove h and thus be concealed, so that the plates at a may be closed together. At the bottom of the plates a a are plates it, hinged in a suitable way, as shown. 0n the outer side of the plates 2' i are extra plates 70 k, also hinged. The object of said plates is to serve as a foot-board or rest for the bottom of the book or music that is used on the stand. Fig. 2 and the left-hand side of Fig. 1 show the position of the plates 0' is when not in use, and Fig. 3 and the right-hand side of Fig. 1 show the proper position of the plates 1' is when the stand is required for use. In the upper ends of the plates (1. a are made grooves L l, in which a small circular or pol ygonal rod or wire, at m, is placed. The rods m m are secured to the plates to a, by' means of the small bracket n and plate 0, in a manner as shown, or may be attached thereto in any suitable or simple way, as may be needed. Over the rod m is a small cross-head 1), made to slide up or down easily. An arm, q, is hinged in its lower end to the cross-head in a suitable way. The arms q q are provided with a number of notches, s s s, on the under side, as shown. A head, 7', is made to slide over the arm q, as shown. To the head ris the leaf-holder a, hinged in a suitable manner. The inner end of the leaf-holder t projects into and is made of a shape corresponding with the notches s s s, and is held in place by the action of a spring, a, placed between the head 4" and the under side of the leaf-holder t, as fully shown in Fig. 5. By the arrangement of the notched arms q q books, &c., of any desired thickness may be placed, and the leaves thereon held in position simply by placing the leaf-holders t t in a corresponding place. The object ot'thc hinges attached to the heads 19 and'r is that the arms q q and leaf-holders t t may be turned thereon, and thus folded close in the groovesl l when it is desired to fold the plates at 0, together. The plates to a may be perforated or sawed to any ornamental design or pattern to suit the fancy of the user.

Having thus fully described the nature, construction, and operation of my invention, I 3. The leaf-holder, consisting of the rod on;

wish to secure by Letters Patent, and claimcross head 1), hinged and grooved arm q, cross- 1. The arruugelnentof the hinged platesik, head 1", spring a, and plate t,- as herein fully in the manner and for the purpose set forth. set forth and described.

. 2. The construction and arrangement of the HUGE MARTIN SWEENEY. hinged arm (I, forked arm 0, and thumb-screw Witnesses: g, in combination with the grooves h 72/, for the ALBAN ANDREN, urpose set forth. WM. H. HUTOHINSON. 

